Art of finishing and shaping hosiery.



G. COLLIS.

ART OF FINISHING AND SHAPING HOSIERY. APPLICATION FILED OCT. 24. 1914.

1,204,945 Patented Nov. 14, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

6. COLLIS. ART OF FINISHING AND SHAPING HOSIERY.

APPLICATION FILED OCT- IIH- Patented Nov. 14,1916.

2 INElIl-SNEET 2- Fig.3.

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m m m m m m n m n Original application filed June 27, 1911,

UNITED STATES P ENT OFF E.

GEORGE COLLIs, or CLINTON, IOWA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE AssIe mnN'rs, To YAM- MOUNT HOSIERY roam DRYING COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

To all whom it may Concern:

Be it known that I, GE RGE CoLLIs, acitizen of the United States, residing at Clinton, in the county of Clinton and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Art .of Finishin and Shaping Hosiery, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to the art of shaping and finishing hosiery, and has especial reference to a method of treating hosieryarticles consisting in heating, from within, and to a predetermined fabric-drying temperature, a metallic form having its sides relatively narrow in cross-section and converging into substantially-reduced, crease producing edges; then superposing upon said form a hosiery-article and subjecting the same to the action ofheat imparted internally thereto by the form for producing a substantially flattened and creased article.

The present case isa division of an application heretofore filed by me on June 27th, 1911, Serial No. 635,686, and patented October'27, 1914, as No. 1,114,966, and wherein is disclosed a novel way of treatinghosiery-articles in such manner that, while being dried, they will simultaneously be shaped and creased.

In hosiery mills, the usual method of drying' and shaping hosiery, as universally practised prior to my invention, was to stretch a stocking upon a thin, solid wooden board; then several of these were placed upon a rack or similar structure and disposed in a dry-box where they were left sufliciently long to permit drying the=stockings. Thereupon, after being withdrawn from the dry-box, the stockings were stripped from the boards and then passed through or subjected to the action of a p'resser-machine, to shape them. Such shaping was done as a separate step and subsequently to the drying. This method of stretching hosiery upon wooden boards has come to be known, in the art, as boarding.

It is exceedingly slow and expensive, the

results are always uncertain'because the presentation of the heat may not always penetrate through the fabric so that, as a consequence, the articles are not infrequently withdrawn from the dry-box before they are Specification of Letters Patent.

ART. FINISHING AND SHAPING HOSIERY.

Patented Nov. 14, 1916.

completely dry. Moreover, the expense of maintainmg a proper degree of heat in the dry-box isgreatand, even though great care may be exercised, the temperature therein vanes considerably. Furthermore, as great quantities of heat escape from the dry-box when it is opened to dispose the stockingcovered boards therein, an intense heat must be maintained therein, always. As a consequence, the fabric of the stocking becomes more or less scorched; the shade thereof, if it be a colored stocking, is somewhat changed; and the strength of'the fabric is materially reduced. Then, the rehandling of the articles, after being stripped from the board. to subject them to the action of the presser for shaping and creasing, adds greatly .to the expense of manufacture, increases the labor, and materially reduces the output of the mill.

My invention is designed to overcome these objections and disadvantages; the

product produced by my method of procedure is greatly superior; and, by a singleoperation, a hosierysarticle, while being dried, is simultaneously shaped in a manner acceptable to the trade. Moreover, by such procedure, I am enabled simultaneously to present heat both to the interior and exterior surfaces of the article, should this be desirable.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown one form of a paratus for carrying my invention into. effect; and which is the form disclosed in my aforementioned case.

In these drawings: Figure 1 is a fragmen- .t'ary View in sectional elevation of a strucdium for heating the form from within;

and showing also a heat-containing cham-.

pass and whereby the hosiery-articles are subjected to an external heating action; and I Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view perspective her through which the members or forms of a series of forms, mounted upon a common steam supplying conduit, the particular shape of the members or forms bein therein exemplified.

Referring to these drawings which, as

aforementioned, exemplify a preferred type of structure for carrying my hosiery-treating method into practice, the reference-numeral 1 designates, generally, a base shown, in this instance, as a table or machine-frame. Sustained by the base is a form-supporting member 2 which, in this instance, is illustrated as a circular carrier or conduit. To facilitate rotative movement of the circular carrier, it rests upon rollers 3 carried by the base. The carrier is, in this instance, provided with two channels 4 and 5. Communicating with the channel 4 is a mediumsupplying pipe .6 connecting with a common supply-pipe 6 which, in turn,extends to a suitable source of steam supply. Con necting with the channel 5 is an exhaust pipe fi 'leading to a discharge pipe 6. The channel 5 is adapted to receive and convey used steam and water of condensation.

Mounted upon the form-supporting memher 2, and preferably equidistantly spaced thereon, is a series of-hosiery-holding and shaping members or forms 7. Each of the forms is hollow and is formed relatively narrow in cross-section, and the edge thereof is substantially reduced to present a crease producing surface. The sides of the form, as shown, converge into the substantially-reduced edge-portion, just mentioned. By reason of this, construction, the article is shaped and creased, the narrowness of the body of the member and the thinness of the edge contributing to this result. Each member or form is provided with a "central partition 8 which divides the interior of the form and provides a channel 9 which, through the ports 10 and 11, communicate,

respectively, with the channels 4 and 5.in

the member-supporting conduit 2. I

The members or forms are preferably made of a good'heat-conducting material. To the end that these forms may be supplied with a heating or drying medium of a predetermined temperature and in prede termined volume, the forms are so mounted upon the member 2 that the ports 10 and 11 of each form shall permit the circulation of the heating medium through the channels of said member 2 and also through eachof the forms. r v

The structure-which has thus been described in the foregoing, and which is disclosed in detail in my aforementioned application, is adapted to present a heating medium to the interior of each of the forms at a predetermined temperature and in predetermined ,volume, and whereby each of the forms becomes heated from Within so agpplled to the inner surface of the article.

, ished article which is tioned thereon, the heat of the forms will be imparted to the inside surface of the hosieryarticle and effect a rapid evaporation of the moisture in the article. The heat is, thus,

The heating medium which is caused to circulate through the member-supporting conduit 2 and through each of the series of forms 7 may be steam, hot air, hot water, or any other appropriate thermal element.

Where it is found of advantage to subject a the hosiery-articles also to an external heating, whereby their outside surface may be drled simultaneously'with the application of heat to the internal surface thereof, the following structure may be provided: Supported by the base 1 and in vertical alinement with the member-supporting conduit2 is a heat-containing chamber 12 formed by a casing wall 13 which encompasses the superstructure of the machine. A top or roof 15 is provided to form, with the wall 13, the

be treated. Usually, as these are brought directly from the dye-room of the mill, they are in a moistened condition. The operator places them upon each form and effects a stretching of the same. The heat which each form imparts to its hosiery-article effects a rapid evaporation of the moisture from the article and, by reason of the described construction of the form, simultaneously effects a shaping thereof. The narrowly-spaced sides and the substantiallysharpened edge of the form produce a finapproximately'flat and creased.

The heat of the form is sufficient, of itself, to dry hosiery-articles and cause the forms to effect the described shaping and creasing thereof. If, however, it be desired to augtion upon the hosiery-articles and, thus,

cause the external surface thereof to be heated. As soon as the hosiery-article is dried and shaped, the operator removes or strips this dried and shaped article from the form.

The member 2 may be given a rotative movement in any desired manner and by any" preferred instrumentality. In Fig. 1, the

same is shown as operating under the action of a power-operated drive designated,

generally, by the reference-character 14.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the procedure followed, in treating hosieryarticles under my improved method, is first to effect a heating (from within and to a predetermined drying temperature) of a hollow form, preferably constructed of metal, and having its sides narrow in crosssection and converging into substantiallyreduced edge-portions; then manually stretching a hosiery-article longitudinally thereon and retaining thesame on the form for the fabric-drying period, during which the fabric of the articleis simultaneously dried, shaped, and creased at two oppositely disposed portions; and then removing or stripping the article from the form. The method also contemplates an additional, externalheating of the hosiery fabric by positioning the form in, the heat-containing chamber 12. Obviously, the particular aggroupment of instrumentalities herein disclosed as constituting a form of apparatus is, not entirely essential in carrying my method into practice except in so far as concerns the hosieryshaping form, which, to the end that it may simultaneously dry and crease the hosieryarticle, should have narrowly-spaced sides I which converge to form substantially-reduced edge-portions.

The described successive steps for carrying the method. into effect are those which have in practice been found most effective and convenient. The order of the steps may manifestly be changed since the stretching of the hosiery-articles upon the forms may be initially eflected, after which the heatproducing medium may be circulated through the form to produce the results already described.

What I claim is:

l. The herein described method of producing a flattened and creased hosiery-article which consists in subjecting the same on its on each of its front and rear edges.

- from within the same, subjecting its sides on the internal surface only to a flattening action, and simultaneously therewith subjecting its front and rear portions to a creasing action whereby a single crease only is formed on each of said portions. v

3. The method of treating a moistened hosiery-article which consists in subjecting the internal surface of its sides to a flattening action and effecting a single crease-like formation at each of its edges whereby the articles will be caused to assume a flattened shape, and simultaneously drying and fixing the fabric of the article by the application of heat to the internal surface thereof so that it will retain its flattened shape.

4. The art of finishing hosiery which consists in applying heat to the internal surface of a moistened hosiery-article to evaporate itsmoisture and at the same time subjecting the same to a flattening and smoothing action on its internal surface whereby the finished article will be substantially flattened into one plane at and between its edges.

5; The method of shaping hosiery which consists in stretching the fabric thereof in one direction to the dimensions of the ulti- 8 0 mate flattened product, applying heat to the internal surface thereof to evaporate the moisture therefrom and to set the fabric as stretched, and simultaneously ironing the same internally into a form which is fiattened at and between its extreme front and rear edges.

In testimony whereof I aflix my slgnature in presence of two witnesses. 

